Ukip row: Nigel Farage defiantly rebuffs calls for him to quit as party leader

Farage loyalists havet issued declarations of support for him Getty Images

Nigel Farage has defiantly rebuffed calls for him to quit as Ukip leader, saying it would be a “massive, massive mistake” to have a contest so soon after the election.

As the party was convulsed by bitter recriminations over its general election campaign and the refusal of Mr Farage’s promised resignation, he came out fighting despite admitting he had lost the confidence of his party “big time”.

He insisted that he would not quit for a second time inside seven days and said in a text to The Independent that he was still leader “by a bigger margin than ever before”.

Speaking on Question Time, Mr Farage said he “did not recognise” Ukip election campaign manager Patrick O’Flynn’s description of him as a “snarling, thin-skinned, aggressive man” in a newspaper interview.

“I was disappointed that a member of our team said this, but look, general elections you're under a huge amount of pressure and particularly it's like a boiler room, a pressure cooker,” he said.

“I'm sure the others would agree, and we maintained discipline as a party extraordinarily well during this general election compared with the past. The election's over, people are letting off steam, and we've seen one or two people fighting personal wars against each other.”

What Ukip needed, he argued, was strong leadership – by him.

Explaining his decision not to stand down, Mr Farage said he had gone into a meeting with the party’s national executive “determined to resign”, but was “quite frankly moved by the strength of their appeal and I said on that basis that I will continue”.

He predicted the referendum on leaving the European Union would be held in May next year, rather than in 2017, and said Ukip could not afford to spend potentially three months on a leadership election.

“The level of support for me in the party is phenomenal and frankly, to go through a leadership contest at a time when Mr Cameron says he's renegotiating our relationship with the European Union, would be a massive, massive mistake,” Mr Farage said.

Read more

“What people are looking for in politics is leaders who are assertive, that are not afraid to tell the truth even if they know it may not always be popular, leaders that have actually had a job in the real world, that have got some experience of life.

“Whatever my faults are, and perhaps they are many, I am in politics because I believe in what I say and I want this country to change.”

Earlier in the day, critics queued up to call for his departure, arguing that the time had come for a less confrontational figure to take over at the helm. There was growing backing in senior ranks for Douglas Carswell, Ukip’s only MP, to succeed him following the party’s failure to achieve a breakthrough at Westminster.

Farage resigned after Ukip won just one seat (AFP/Getty)

The civil war was triggered by Mr O’Flynn’s explosive comments during which he warned the party was in danger of becoming a “personality cult”.

Mr Farage resigned as leader last Friday following his failure to win a Commons seat, but three days later the party’s ruling body said it had refused to accept his resignation because of overwhelming support among Ukip members.

But the former party leader Roger Knapman said: “He cannot take up and put down the leadership crown at will. It is time for the party members to have the opportunity to say whether or not they think there should be a leadership election.” The spread-betting millionaire Stuart Wheeler, who gave nearly £100,000 to Ukip’s election campaign, said: “I would like him to step down, at least for the moment.”

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

The major political figures who lost out in the General Election

1/16
Ed Balls

Ed Balls lost his seat in what was the biggest shock of an extraordinary night of election results. His defeat in compounded Labour's woes in a dismal night, which saw the party lose all but one of its Scottish MPs and will undoubtedly lead to Ed Miliband standing down.

2/16
Nigel Farage

OK, so he came close to being upstaged by a professional comedian – Al Murray aka the Pub Landlord, had also lost in South Thanet.
But as he lost his fight to become an MP and resigned his Ukip leadership, Nigel Farage did manage to get in a few gags.
He began by railing against the editors of the The Sun and the Daily Mail, sarcastically calling them “geniuses”.
But perhaps bearing the last election in mind, when he was in intensive care following an air crash, he said after the result that he felt “pretty good”.
“Never felt happier,” in fact. A weight lifted off the old shoulders. Quite right too, old boy. More time for the saloon bar and a pint, or five.

AFP/Getty Images

3/16
Vince Cable

A huge scalp for the Conservatives, even though he was part of their coalition government. The Liberal Democrat Business Secretary lost his Twickenham seat to Tory candidate Tania Mathias. Cable had held the seat since 1997 and was a strong figure in the Lib Dems, having previously been deputy leader.

Christopher Furlong | Getty Images

4/16
Jim Murphy

A sign of how dire things are in Scotland now for the Labour party. The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, lost his Renfrewshire East to the SNP, having held the seat since 2005. He held a number of cabinet positions under the administrations of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

5/16
Danny Alexander

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nick Clegg's right-hand man, Danny Alexander, lost his seat of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to the SNP. His aides admitted defeat several hours before the formal decision was due. There were suggestions that the SNP vote could be as high as 50 per cent.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

6/16
Esther McVey

The Minister of State for Employment and one of the few women in David Cameron’s male-dominate cabinet, Esther McVey had only held Wirral West since 2010. Her 2,436 majority was overturned and Labour's Margaret Greenwood won the seat with a 417 majority.

BEN STANSALL | AFP | Getty Images

7/16
George Galloway

The former Labour MP had held the seat of Bradford West since 2012 for the Respect Party. He previously held the constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow for Respect between 2005 and 2010, although he unsuccessfully contested Poplar and Limehouse in 2010.

Nigel Roddis | Getty Images

8/16
Charles Kennedy

Another huge Lib Dem scalp, with the SNP taking the seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber from the former leader of the party. Kennedy had led the Lib Dems between 1999 and 2006 and had become something of an elder statesman of the party. He conceded defeat ahead of the official declaration and said he would not give any TV interviews. He had been an MP since 1983.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

9/16
Douglas Alexander

The shadow Foreign Secretary and Ed Miliband's Chair of General Election Strategy, Danny Alexander had been the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 1997. He lost his seat to the SNP, with the party now holding a 9,076 majority. Labour's share of the vote was down by 21.3 per cent.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

10/16
Simon Hughes

Simon Hughes held a key Liberal Democrat seat in London, Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which he held from 1983. Hughes is a former deputy leader of the Lib Dems and had been minister of state at the Ministry of Justice since 2013. He was previously the President of the party, as well as a two-time leadership candidate, and stood for the party in the 2004 Mayoral election.

Rob Stothard | Getty Images

11/16
Mark Reckless

An MP for Rochester and Strood since 2010, Reckless switched from the Conservatives to Ukip in September 2014 and winning the seat outright in November. He was the second Ukip MP after Douglas Carswell, and his loss is a huge blow to Nigel Farage’s party.

Carl Court | Getty Images

12/16
Margaret Curran

Margaret Curran had held Glasgow East since 2010 and was the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. She had previously been the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston (a seat she might wish she still held, as it is still held by Labour under the title Glasgow Provan).

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

13/16
David Laws

A Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil since 2001, he was the minister of state for Schools. He had briefly been Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 2010 election, only holding the office for 17 days after resigning due to the disclosure of his Parliamentary expenses claims. Laws was a key negotiator for the Lib Dems when the coalition was being formed five years ago.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

14/16
Jo Swinson

On her election in 2005, she was the youngest member of the House of Commons. Under the Coalition government, the Lib Dem MP was the Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs and for Women and Equalities. She lost her seat of East Dunbartonshire to the SNP's John Nicholson.

Matthew Lloyd | Getty Images

15/16
Ed Davey

The Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey had been the MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997. Davey championed the Lib Dems' role in ensuring the Conservative-led Coalition championed the green agenda. However, the well-known Lib Dem MP lost his seat to the Tories, having held the seat in 2010 by 7,560 votes.

Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images

16/16
Lynne Featherstone

Lynne Featherstone lost her London seat of Hornsey and Wood Green to the Labour party. She was a former junior Home Office minister with responsibility for equality, then becoming junior minister with responsibility for international development.

Dan Kitwood | Getty Images

The Ukip treasurer, Hugh Williams, echoed growing fears that it was at risk of being viewed as “the Nigel Farage party rather than the UK Independence Party”

However, Farage loyalists closed ranks around him, praising his stewardship of the party and insisting he was the best person to make the case for Britain to leave the European Union in the referendum promised by David Cameron by 2017.

His deputy, Paul Nuttall, said: “Ukip has the best communicator in British politics leading this party and who will play a vital role during the referendum campaign.”

The strife came after the party won only one seat at the election despite coming third in the popular vote with 3.8 million votes. Internal critics have protested that too many resources were poured into his abortive attempt to win the seat of South Thanet.

Read more

Mr O’Flynn denied he was launching a coup and said Mr Farage was his “political hero”, tearing into “poisonous individuals” close to the leader.

One of the unnamed aides he is understood to have had in his sights, the party secretary Matthew Richardson, resigned. Shortly afterwards Raheem Kassam, whose contract was to end on 31 May, quit early as a senior adviser to the Ukip leader.

Mr Kassam attacked Mr O’Flynn as “wholly unprofessional”, claiming he had “some issues” and should resign as a party spokesman.